A Nice Story
Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ray Schultz
Look elsewhere if you want a dose of midsummer cynicism. This column should be illustrated with a happy face. Exactly 10 years ago this month I was suffering ...

Twin Troubles
Jun 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ray Schultz
If there are two things direct marketers dread, it's economic downturns and elections. This year we have both, and you can catch up on them in Direct. ...

Survival
May 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ray Schultz
This is not a happy time for catalog marketers. Yes, they got a break on postal rates (as if any rate hike can be called a break). But paper prices are ...

Green Hype
Apr 1, 2008 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
The Federal Trade Commission announced last month that it's revising its packaging guidelines to make them more environmentally sound. Fair enough. The ...

Not So Fast
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
Oh, the joy. The U.S. Postal Service has announced a May 12 rate increase. But it's modest as postage hikes go. At deadline, the DMA's Jerry Cerasale ...

The Golden Age
Feb 1, 2008 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
Here's a stumper you may not be able to answer: Which DM trade publication published the following story? The baby was born on a Tuesday and officially ...

Dear Friend
Jan 1, 2008 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
Some marketers think that people without credit deserve whatever they get, and they prove it by treating them like marks. They offer mortgages with variable rates, and credit cards with all kinds of sneaky add-ons. ...

Happy, Happy
Dec 1, 2007 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
We have a pat answer for anyone who wishes us Happy New Year on Dec. 31: What is happy about it? Yes, we're paraphrasing Damon Runyon. But Runyon makes ...

Pro-Choice
Nov 1, 2007 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
The theme of John Greco's opening address at DMA07 last month was choice for consumers. Good topic. But it did give rise to a heretical thought: Maybe ...

What Gives?
Oct 1, 2007 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
Scrap the editorial praising Lon Mandel for bucking the consolidation trend. Replace it with one that lauds him for his aggressive acquisition strategy. ...

Pipe Down
Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
Does anyone remember a cantankerous man named Arnold Fishman? He slammed the Direct Marketing Association years ago for compiling and publicizing pumped-up ...

The Rookies
Aug 1, 2007 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
August is here time for the List Vision conference and Direct's annual list roundtable. And we've got a treat for you this year. Guess what our panelists ...

Sweetening the Pot
Jul 1, 2007 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
It's been said by everyone from Don Peppers to Fred Reichheld: Customer satisfaction starts with a company's employees. But how do you make sure that your staff fully supports your objectives? There's one way. Incentives. ...

Message From Jupiter
Jun 1, 2007 12:00 PM, Ray Schultz
It'll happen any minute that big surge of online shoppers we've all been waiting for. Right? Not so fast. Growth has flattened out, and there simply won't ...

World Class
May 1, 2007 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
It's not easy being a The very term implies someone who's marginalized in a business. Author Peter Mayle wrote that an ad agency's creative director must ...

A Dumb Call
Apr 1, 2007 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
April may have been the cruelest month to T.S. Eliot, but for DMers especially those that send catalogs it's May this year. That's when catalogers will ...

Model Citizens
Mar 1, 2007 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
It may be bad form to revive the old us-vs.-them fight between direct marketers and brand advertisers. We're all one big, happy family these days, right? But DMers are getting a disproportionate share of the blame for the anti-marketing mania now going on. ...

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Feb 1, 2007 12:00 PM, Ray Schultz
Nothing is more boring than going through the Direct Marketing Association's Hall of Fame. For every genius on that wall, someone else is there only because ...

What's This?
Jan 1, 2007 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
We've mentioned it already. But it may still be a shock when this issue of Direct arrives in your mailbox. It has the same writers as it did before people ...

The New Direct
Dec 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
YOU MAY HAVE HEARD SOME BUZZ ABOUT THIS. We certainly hope so. But if not, here's the word on the new Direct. The new Direct? Yes. We've thrown Direct's ...

Familiar Faces
Nov 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
Hard as it may be to believe, DMA06 isn't the only fall event worth attending. Another is the Promo Live conference, produced by Direct publisher Prism ...

If You're Going
Oct 15, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
There are worse places to be than San Francisco in October. So stop worrying, and relax on the flight by reading this issue of Direct. We hope you'll ...

Meet the Broker
Oct 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
HERE'S A STATISTIC THAT PROBABLY SHOULDN'T SURPRISE ANYONE. Of the list companies polled by Direct in its 2006 list use survey (see supplement following ...

We're No. 1
Sep 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
IT'S A GREAT TIME TO BE A DIRECT MARKETER. Every survey points to the fact that marketing executives want performance-measurement tools. The leading buzzword ...

Media on Media
Aug 1, 2006 12:00 PM, RAY SCHULTZ
Don't bet the farm just yet on RSS, podcasts and other so-called Web 2.0 media. Marketers are interested in them, but not as much as they are in old-fashioned ...